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it up as a pattern; but the joy which he manifested, and the anxiety which he showed, are strictly to be followed. We are told, that he parted with all that he possessed to obtain the treasure he had discovered; and, in like manner, we must be willing to part with all our store to obtain an interest in the everlasting gospel. Thanks be to God, we live in an age of religious toleration, when we are not likely to be called upon to part with life, rather than violate our profession; but there are sacrifices which may be required of us, which may cost us dear. We must be ready to part with our nearest and dearest connexions if they interfere with our christian profession. Our Lord hath declared, "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me." We must be ready to give up the pleasures and allurements of the world, whenever they stand in competition with our allegiance to our Saviour. The chemist may amalgamate, or cause to unite, various substances; but I defy him to turn moral chemist, and amalgamate the pleasures of the world with the service of God; the temper of the miser with the temper of the christian; a love of sensuality with the love of heaven. If the person described in the parable expressed such joy in the prospect of earthly riches, in the mere hope of a temporal treasure; what

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will the joy of a christian be, when he enters upon his inheritance,-an inheritance" incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away;" and given, not to one only, but unto "all them that love his appearing."

This inheritance, far from lessening in value when divided, will increase. So far does the arithmetic of heaven differ from that of earth.

May we all use our utmost endeavours to secure an interest in this blessed inheritance! May we look up to God, through Christ, as our Guide on earth; and then we may rest assured, that he will be "our Portion for ever!" Amen.

SERMON XXXV.

INGRATITUDE

FOR A

BENEVOLENT MIRACLE.

And behold the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. MATTHEW viii. 34.

SOLOMON has declared, with a wisdom peculiarly his own, that "there is a time for every purpose under the sun." Happy that man whose purposes are prevailingly good, and whose pursuits are always well timed! This thought impressed my mind while reading the chapter from whence the text is taken, in connexion with the three preceding chapters of this Gospel, containing our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. In that excellent

discourse, you have the greatest body of precepts ever delivered at one time, by the great Founder of Christianity; but there was a time to act, as well as a time to speak; and the succeeding chapter exhibits him in a more active light, performing miracles, each of which rises in importance; he first exerts his divine power over various diseases, he next stills a tempest, and he then casts out an unclean spirit from two men who had long suffered from its influence.

Let us examine this interesting narrative, as related by St. Mark." And they," that is Jesus and his disciples, 66 came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit." Matthew mentions two men, but this circumstance by no means invalidates their accounts. I have often said, that if two persons in a court of justice were to relate an event precisely in the same words, we should instantly suspect an imposture; but let them agree in essentials, then a difference in smaller points shows their honesty. To give you another instance: St. Matthew, speaking of the thieves who were crucified with our Saviour, says, they both mocked and derided him; while St. Luke mentions only one as doing so ;

probably they might both insult him in the first instance, though one afterwards became penitent. St. Mark proceeds to relate the wretched situation of this poor creature, "who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could bind him, no, not even with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee, by God, that thou torment me not. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, (the name given to a company of Roman soldiers,) for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding: and all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And, forthwith, Jesus gave them leave; and the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep

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